The invention relates to a housing comprising a main body, an opening provided in the main body, a lid for covering the opening, and a mechanism for opening and closing the lid.
The invention further relates to a disc player provided with a housing and a scanning unit for scanning an information disc, said scanning unit being provided in a main body of the housing and having a turntable for the information disc which is accessible via an opening provided in the main body and covered by means of a lid.
A conventional lid opening/closing mechanism 1b for opening/closing a lid attached to a body is known in which, as shown in FIG. 11, a lid 3b is attached to the vicinity of an opening 4b of a body 2b by means of hinges 5b, and the opening 4b is opened or closed by turning the lid 3b in the direction of arrow Ab or arrow Bb with respect to the body 2b. Also, a lid opening/closing mechanism 1c is known in which a lid 3c opens or closes an opening 4c by sliding the lid 3c in the direction of arrow Ac or arrow Bc along the opening 4c of a body 2c. For the lid opening/closing mechanism 1b, a space for turning the lid 3b with respect to the body 2b is necessary for the lid 3b to open and close the opening 4b of the body 2b. Therefore, there arises a problem in that even if the body 2b and the lid 3b are kept compact, a substantially large space is necessary as the whole system 100b when the opening/closing operation of the lid 3b is considered. In another known housing shown in FIG. 12, a system 100c includes a lid opening/closing mechanism 1c, which slides the lid 3c in the direction of arrow Ac or arrow Bc with respect to the body 2c to open and close the opening 4c of the body 2c. Therefore, there arises a problem in that even if the body 2c and the lid 3c are kept compact, a longitudinal space must be kept clear behind the main body for the opening/closing operation of the lid 3c, so that a substantially large space is necessary for the,operation of the whole system 100c. 
Downsizing of the system including the space for handling has been demanded particularly for current house holds. For tape recorders and VTRs, therefore, an opening for loading/unloading a cassette tape is mainly provided on the front face of the system body. However, for record players and CD players, an opening for loading/unloading a record or CD is provided on the top face of the system body in most cases in view of the operation of the pickup and the like, so that a large space required for the operation of a lid presents a serious problem.
The present invention was made in view of the above situation, and accordingly an object thereof is to provide a housing and a disc player of the kinds mentioned in the opening paragraphs which comprise a lid opening/closing mechanism in which the space occupied by a lid, when the opening/closing operation is performed, is kept small, and the space required by the whole system in operation is made compact.
To accomplish this object, the housing in accordance with the invention is characterized in that the mechanism comprises:
a drive unit for moving the lid relative to the main body, said drive unit comprising a first part secured to the main body and a second part secured to the lid for cooperation with the first part;
and a guide provided between the main body and the lid for guiding the movement of the lid;
said mechanism operating under the influence of a driving force of the drive unit in a first direction to move the lid relative to the main body over a first distance in a first linear direction, and to subsequently rotate the lid relative to the main body over a second distance in a first rotational direction, whereby the rear edge of the lid is lowered from an initial position to a lower position and the opening of the main body is uncovered;
and said mechanism operating under the influence of a driving force of the drive unit in a second reverse direction to rotate the lid relative to the main body over said second distance in a second reverse rotational direction, whereby the rear edge of the lid returns from the lower position into the initial position, and to subsequently move the lid relative to the main body over said first distance in a second reverse linear direction, whereby the opening of the main body is closed.
The disc player in accordance with the invention is characterized in that the housing used therein is a housing in accordance with the invention.
In this manner, the housing and the disc player according to the present invention are configured so that the operation of the lid from the closed position to the open position is performed when the lid turns with respect to the main body and the rear edge of the lid takes a low position after the lid moves a certain distance rearward in a linear direction with respect to the main body, and also the operation of the lid from the open position to the closed position is performed when the lid moves in the reverse linear direction with respect to the main body after the lid has turned with respect to the main body and the read edge of the lid returns to the initial position from the lower position. According to the present invention, after the lid moves in the first linear direction relative to the main body, it then turns relative to the body, and the movement of the rear edge of the lid is guided so as to take a lower position relative to the main body by a distance which is determined by the guide by which the lid is guided. Therefore, the space occupied by the lid, while the opening/closing operation is being performed, is kept small, and the space required by the whole system in operation is made compact.
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view, as viewed from behind-above, of a first embodiment of a housing according to the invention which is incorporated into a CD player according to the invention;
FIG. 2 shows a left side view of the first embodiment, which explains an operation condition of a guide of the housing of FIG. 1 when the lid is in a closed position;
FIG. 3 shows a left side view of the first embodiment, which explains an operating condition of a guide of the housing of FIG. 1 when the lid is moved to be in a partially open position;
FIG. 4 shows a left side view of the first embodiment, which explains an operating condition of a guide of the housing of FIG. 1 when the lid is rotated to be in an open position;
FIG. 5 shows a left side view of the first embodiment, which explains an operating condition of a guide of the housing of FIG. 1 when the lid is rotated to be in a maximum open position;
FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of a regulating body of the guide of the first embodiment of the housing of FIG. 1;
FIG. 7 shows a view, corresponding to FIG. 2, of a second embodiment in which a housing according to the invention is incorporated into a CD player according to the invention;
FIG. 8 shows a left side view of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 7, which explains an operating condition of a guide of the housing when the lid in an open state;
FIG. 9 shows a left side view of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 7, which shows an operating condition of a guide of the housing when the lid is moved and rotated to be in a maximum open position;
FIG. 10 shows a view corresponding to FIG. 6 of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 7;
FIG. 11 shows a perspective view, as viewed from before-above, which shows a first prior art housing; and
FIG. 12 shows a view corresponding to FIG. 11 which shows a second prior art housing.